Mozilla is considering changing the version number of the expected Firefox 3.1 to Firefox 3.5. This, according to developers, will emphasize the sheer volume of work and vast changes already undertaken in version 3.1.

The leap in version number, suggested at a Firefox/Gecko meeting on Wednesday, will not mean users having to wait another two years for the next ready-to-run Firefox release. Rather, the aim of the developers is to underline the amount of work and the number of changes in the finished version 3.1, (named Shiretoko, after a Japanese national park), including the implementation of TraceMonkey and support for video codecs Ogg/Theora and Dirac.

"The increase in version number is proposed due to the sheer volume of work which makes Shiretoko feel like much more than a small, incremental improvement over Firefox 3..." say the developers. Should the suggestion be accepted, the next Firefox will keep the version number 3.1 Beta 3, and Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 would follow. This will also result in changes in the Firefox repository, with trunk being renumbered 3.6a1.

A world record attempt has been launched today: starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, the new Firefox 3 browser became available for downloading. And that's not all: the makers of Firefox are seeking to make their way into the Guinness Book of Records.

Firefox will soon integrate Geode (via the W3C geolocation API specification) into its browser, thereby exposing the user's current location. Meanwhile Linux users will have to forgo this service in that it involves proprietary software.